EU City for Fair and Ethical Trade 2019 - Call for applications

10 January 2018

Context

On 7 December 2017, the European Commission opened the competition “European Cities for Fair and Ethical Trade 2019”. This competition aims at rewarding the role played by European cities in the social, economic and sustainable development domains linked to international trade.

This contest is part of the EU’s efforts to draw the attention on the potential effects of the consumers’ choices on the environment and foreign populations’ lifestyles, as well as on the role played by the local authorities in this framework. It focuses on fair and ethical trade practices which sustain open, inclusive and sustainable development.

The competition is a unique opportunity that all Belgian cities should seize. Indeed, they are given the chance to present what they do to raise awareness of their people to fair and ethical trade on the local level, but also to get inspired by the experiences of other European cities in order to increase the impact of trade on the sustainable development global objectives.

Award

The competition winner will receive the honorary title of "EU City for Fair and Ethical Trade 2019". The winner will benefit from an increased visibility and a reputation of frontrunner in fair and ethical trade domains. The winner’s projects will be advertised and promoted within a large European cities network. Finally, the winner will benefit from a one year support from the International Trade Center (www.intracen.org) and from funds of the European Commission to complete a sustainable development project successfully.

Selection criteria

The competition is open for all cities with more than 20.000 inhabitants. The selection criteria are available on the portal: www.trade-city-award.eu.

Conditions of participation

The candidate cities must send a file, preferably in English and of maximum 5.000 words, which answers to seven questions formulated by the Secretariat, and which contains a summary of basic demographic elements. Further precisions are available in the “Living Book” guide or on the competition website.

Among the important elements to include, are to be underlined:

the candidate’s leadership, vision and strategy to integrate development and ethics in trade;

the candidate’s existing initiatives to raise awareness, educate or cooperate with key-actors;

the effects of the candidate’s policies, mainly on behavioral change.

Calendar

The cities that fulfill the selection criteria are encouraged to submit their application before 13 April 2018 on the online portal (www.trade-city-award.eu).